If You Get Shot, You Don't Get To Blame Craigslist For Hosting An Ad For The Gun Dealer Where The Shooter Bought The Gun

from the wow dept

We've discussed in the past what we refer to as "Steve Dallas lawsuits." The name comes from an old Bloom County comic strip (which to date, I've been unable to find online, but recall pretty clearly in my head -- but, uh, internet help me out -- can anyone find a copy of this strip? -- see update below), following a storyline where the character Steve Dallas is punched out by actor Sean Penn for trying to take Penn's photo. In the strip, Dallas (a lawyer) discusses who to sue for his injuries from the attack. He rules out most of the obvious candidates for one reason or another (including Penn), before finally settling on the manufacturer of his camera (if I remember correctly, it was Nikon) for failing to put a warning label on the camera, that taking pictures of celebrities may lead to them beating you up. The point: you always sue some big company, no matter how tangentially related to the case, because they're the ones with the money. Update: The punchout storyline begins here, and the actual "who to sue" comic was printed a couple months later here. My memory was slightly off. It wasn't "Nikon" but the company was the made up name "Nikolta" (a mix of Nikon and Minolta, I guess). Still, pretty good memory for something that was printed 23 years ago. Thanks for the help in the comments finding it!

Hence, "Steve Dallas lawsuits." However, in all of the past such lawsuits we've discussed around here, I don't think I've ever seen one that was as big a stretch as this one. A guy who got shot sued Craigslist, because apparently the shooter bought his gun from a gun dealer who advertised on Craigslist. Think about that for a second. At this point we're already twice removed from a reasonable defendant. Could you make an argument against the gun dealer? Even that seems like a stretch (though I'm not all that familiar with gun laws these days). But to go even further and blame Craigslist? That seems preposterous. And, thankfully, the court agreed. It quickly tossed out the lawsuit on Section 230 safe harbors, but you have to wonder if that was even needed, given the fact that Craigslist had nothing at all to do with the shooting.

Sue U

I think I should sue the writer of thia article becouse I feel he provided me wih information I wouldnt normaly know to go to craiglist and look for a gun and shoot someone who stupidly sues people cuz their stupid thus resulting in my suide becouse it was me....

in the UK when you lose a suit you pay for your lawyer, their lawyer, the court's time and (here's the kicker) you have to pay the other party the actual amount you were suing them for! so long, fraudulent lawsuits for millions of dollars, hello functional justice system and stylin' wigs!

Re: Fees....

Ditto.

What we need is some method to discourage frivolous (read: stupid, absurd, etc.) lawsuits. The above is just one way. I would go so far as to make it criminal. Lawyers won't help you sue if they can go to jail for it!

And this one time...

Any this one time... at bandcamp... well, just bad stuff happened...

So... I'm going to sue the band camp, the school that advertised the bandcamp, the company that printed the flyer that was sent to the school about the bandcamp, the company that makes the ink, that the printer used to make the flyer... the company who made the instruments at bandcamp... can't forget those. Oh... and the company that makes the CASES for the intruments at band camp. Must sue all of the counsellors at band camp. And the company that printed up those ridiculous STAFF T-shirts they wear... and the maker of the CAPS that they wore too!

Hmm... forget anyone?

Sadly, this is just an example of a soceity of people who REFUSE to accept personal responsibility for ANYTHING. It's sad, because that's the main reason this country is in decline. By refusing to accept responsibility, we give away our power to everyone else.

YOU CONTROL YOUR LIFE. As soon as you say you don't, you've stopped being "the boss of you" and you give that power to someone else.

Time to take back personal power and personal responsibility for our lives and what WE'VE done with our lives and the consequences of the actions that WE'VE taken.

Remember the Coffee-mo!!

The rallying cry of all frivolous lawyers. With McDonalds getting sued for serving hot coffee and fattening foods, this is surely the logical next step. But our protests of these kind of suits really won't do much, especially considering other laws that are just as rediculous. Take home invasion laws, gun laws, and many of the age restriction laws. Our nation is sue happy, and rather than teaching people to take steps to protect themselves from the worlds sharp edges, we encourage them to fall and blame everybody and everything in sight. Politicians scream, "Protect the Children!". Psychologists scream, "It's not your fault!". Lawyers scream, "You ccan sue!". And people wonder why this country is going to hell in a handbasket.

Someone PLEASE Think of the Lawyers!

Shouldn't this Paul B. Dalnocky guy be soundly reprimanded (or at least mocked forever on the Interweb) for even fielding this nutjob as a client and putting together this lawsuit? The "I just wanted to get to the discovery phase to see what kind of controls they [Craigslist] use" seems a bit lame-o, n'est pas?

Re: Remember the Coffee-mo!!

A lot of people only heard the PR crap that McDonalds spewed out. The reason why the clumsey woman sued McDonalds (and won, not the full amount, but the court did side with her) was because she shouldn't have suffered any burns at all. McDonalds was serving their coffee at three times the legal temprature for beverages. McDonalds of course spun it as "Hey, we're a good company, this idiot is suing 'cause she spilt coffee on herself!"

Re: Re: Remember the Coffee-mo!!

While I applaud the fact that you dug into the story, your statement is meaningless. There was no upper range for the temperature of heated beverages. Therefore stating it was higher than the limit isn't an indictment. Anybody recieving a HOT beverage should take care. That she didn't, and recieved a scalding, is her own stupid fault. People get sunburned just as badly all the time. Does that mean they can sue the sun because it was hotter than they expected? Or sue the suntan lotions producer and distributor because proper caution wasn't taken? Idiots who harm themselves through improper use and care should not be rewarded.

Re:

in the UK when you lose a suit...

In the US, I'm afraid that would tend to turn lawsuits into wars of attrition. Whoever had the most money to last the longest and put on the best show would often win and then force the poorer looser to pay for everything (again, like the spoils of war). The best "justice" money can buy. But maybe UK courts aren't as biased towards the wealthy in the first place as US courts are.

Re: Re: Remember the Coffee-mo!!

Lets assume that the (made up) ceiling for beverage serving temperature is the same as a warm human body (~100F). I think you'll agree that's not very warm for coffee. If they served her a drink at three times that limit they would be serving her steam.

So... here's what we're left with:

there is a legal limit of about 65F that everyone must be breaking

or, you are an idiot

or, you are a troll who I just wasted 2 minutes of my life on. (kudos, if so).

Re: Fees....

that's how we do it in Canada. You sue and lose, you're on the hook for the WHOLE thing. You don't see a lot of people getting sued up here unless the case has merit. In the States, suing is a national pass-time akin to playing the lottery.

Re: Fees....

Re: And this one time...

Hmm... forget anyone?

Yes, yourself! That "bad stuff" wouldn't have happened if you hadn't gone to that camp in the first place. What were you thinking? I bet you weren't, were you? And I wouldn't be surprised if you were walking in a "certain way" that made the "bad stuff" more likely to happen, too.

Please

Re: Re: Re: Remember the Coffee-mo!!

"""There was no upper range for the temperature of heated beverages."""

You are wrong. Even if there is no rule or regulation (which I bet there is), there is an expectation that coffee will not be so hot as to cause almost instant third degree burns if it is spilled in our laps. The manager of that franchise knew exactly what he was doing, had been called on it before, but continued to keep the coffee hotter "than normal" because it lasted longer, meaning they didn't have to remake it as often.

The lady only asked for her medical bills to be paid, a very reasonable request in light of the ACTUAL facts.

Re: Re: And this one time...

Yes, yourself! That "bad stuff" wouldn't have happened if you hadn't gone to that camp in the first place. What were you thinking? I bet you weren't, were you? And I wouldn't be surprised if you were walking in a "certain way" that made the "bad stuff" more likely to happen, too.

ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY!!! YOU CONTROL YOUR LIFE!!!

That's right, kiddies. If someone does "bad stuff" to you, then it's your own fault, so be sure an keep quiet about it. Don't ever tell anyone else, keep it secret, or you'll get in trouble. And always remember...
IT'S YOUR OWN FAULT!!!